Sugar and Spice... and Herbs, MORE COOKING!!!

So here are some more of our cooking and food attempts :)

 We Enjoy Plate Salads for dinner on occasion. This one is pretty much whatever you like on your salad! We love getting bountiful baskets because you often get lots of fun things for salads... carrots, lettuce, avocado, carrots  YUM! And we enjoy doing chicken on top sometimes. Sometimes patties, sometimes grilled!

Another Bountiful basket treasure Red Anju Pears along side eggs and toast. Dan made me breakfast in bed :) !

Crock Pot Honey Sesame Chicken

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
• black pepper
• 3/4 cup honey
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup onion, minced
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 4 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1/4 cup of water
• hot cooked rice, for serving
• steamed broccoli, for serving
• sesame seeds, for serving

Directions:
Season chicken thighs with black pepper and lay in bottom of crock pot.
In a medium bowl, whisk together honey, soy sauce, onion, ketchup, canola oil, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Pour mixture over chicken thighs and flip chicken to coat. Cook on low for 4 hours, then remove chicken to a plate.
In a second bowl, combine cornstarch with water until dissolved. Then pour into liquid in crock pot, return chicken, cover, and cook for 15 minutes or until thick.
Break up chicken with two forks, then serve over hot cooked rice with steamed broccoli. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, then enjoy.
This recipe we got from a website called the Pajama Chief. She cooks a lot of fun things and if you scroll to the bottom she has it catagorized by foods so you can click on one :)
http://thepajamachef.com/

 

Cutting out our cake doughnuts...

We made....

Old-Fashioned-Cake Doughnuts!

1 cup sugar

 4 teaspoons baking powder 

1 1/2 teaspoons salt 

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 

2 eggs 

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted 

1 cup milk 

4 cups flour (plus a little more if dough is sticky)

 oil (for frying) 

cinnamon sugar 

 Directions: 

1 In a large bowl mix the sugar, baking powder, salt and nutmeg.

 2 Add eggs, milk and melted butter. Beat well. 

 3 Add 3 cups of the flour, beating until blended. Add one more cup of flour and beat well. The dough should be soft and sticky but firm enough to handle. If you feel its necessary, add up to 1/2 cup more flour.

 4 Cover with plastic wrap and chill for *at* *least* one hour. 

 5 Remove your dough from the fridge and begin heating about 1" of oil to 360F in a large metal skillet. 

 6 Working half the dough at a time, roll it out on a floured surface to about 1/2" thickness. Cut out circles using a doughnut cutter or large biscuit or cookie cutter. For the center, I actually use the cap off my martini shaker ;) to cut the holes. 

 7 Gently drop the doughnuts in batches into the hot oil. Flip them over as they puff and turn them a couple more times as they cook. They will take about 2-3 minutes in total and will be lovely and golden brown all over. 

8 Remove from the oil and set them on paper towels or brown paper bag (that removes all the fat, you know).

 9 douse them with sugar and cinnamon, icing, chocolate dipped with sprinkles or whatever you like.

Read more at: http://www.food.com/recipe/old-fashioned-cake-doughnuts-383868?oc=linkback

 

Dan cooking them up :) Smaller pan seems to work best don't have to use so much oil

The final product, Glazed! Just a simple powdered sugar glace then used a fork to flip it in the mixture

Pineapple-Apricot Teryaki Chicken [from Budget Bytes]
click to print
Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup apricot preserves
• 1/4 cup crushed pineapple, undrained
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon rice vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray. Place chicken thighs on baking sheet.
In a small bowl, whisk together apricot preserves, pineapple, garlic, soy sauce, rice vinegar, ginger, and cornstarch. Reserve about 1/3 cup sauce in a separate bowl. Brush half of the rest of the sauce over the chicken thighs.
Place in oven and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and brush on the second half of the sauce [not the 1/3 cup reserved]. Place back in the oven and bake for another 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through. Serve over spinach and rice or Israeli couscous, being sure to spoon the reserved sauce over each piece.
Time: 35 minutes [5 minutes active].
Yield: 4 servings.
This is another Tasty Recipe from The Pajama Chief.  http://thepajamachef.com/2012/04/02/pineapple-apricot-teryaki-chicken/

 This is the final product of my attempt at making Dan an homemade Carrot Cake for Fathers day! Those are caramel cups on the top :)

For whatever reason all the carrots boiled to the middle... odd.

Have a slice?

 This recipe came from the book I got Dan for Father's day. "Stories and Recipes from Mia Famiglia" The Cake Boss Buddy Valastro

Carrot Cake
Makes two 9- Inch cakes, or 24 cupcakes

3 cups finely grated carrots (from about 5 large carrots)
2 1/2 cups cake flour, pluse more for louring the cake pans
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups Italian Custard Cream, optional
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon  vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
 4 extra- large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup whole milk
Unsalted butter for greesing pans.
1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Put the carrots, flour, sugar, custard, if using, oil, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, canilla, and salt in a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. (If you don't have a stand mixer, you can put the ingredients in a bowl, and use a hand mixer with the blending attachemtns.) Mix on low just until all ingredients are tossed together well, a few seconds, then raise the speed to low-medium and continue to mize until the mixture is soot, aprox. 1 additional minute.
3.With the motor running, add 1 egg at a time, adding the next one after the previous one has been absorbed. Stop the motor periodically and scrape from the bottom of the the bowl with a rubber spatula to incorporate, and return the mixer to low-medium speed.
4. Continue to mix for an additional minute to ensure the the eggs are fully absorbed.  This will help insure that all the sugar is dissolved and the flour is incorporated, which will help produce a luxurious mouthfeel in the final cake.
5. with the motor running pour in the milk, 1/2 cup at a time, stopping the motor to scrape the  sides and bottom of the bowl between the two additions. Continue to mix for another minute or until the mixture appears smooth.
6.Grease two 9-inch cake pans with teh butter, and flour them.
7. Divide the batter evenly between  the two cake pans, using a rubber spatula to scrape down the bowl and get as much batter ad possible out. Before baking, be sure the batter is at 70 F and 73 F, or the cake will crown. If it's to warm put it into the fridge for a few minutes and if it's to cool let it sit at room temperature.
8.Bake until the cake begins to pull from the sides of the form and it springy to the touch, 25 to 30 minutes.
9 Remove from the oven and let cool for at least 30 min, preferable an hour. The cake should be at room temperature before you remove it from the pan. Put a piece of parchment  paper on the cookie sheet, top  with sugar, dump onto parchment; the sugar will keep it from sticking. Refrigerate or freeze until read to decorate.

Italian Custard Cream
It was thin for me.... not sure what I did wrong.
2 1/2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup flour, sifted
5 extra-large egg yolks
2 teaspoons salted butter

1. Put the milk and vanilla in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat.
2. In a bowl, whip together the sugar, flour and egg yolks with a hand mixer. Ladle a cup of milk-vanilla mixture into the bowl and beat to temper the yolks- as you are whisking the yolks move the pot on and off the flame so that you don't scramble the eggs.
3. Add the yolk mixture to the pot and beat with the hand mixer until thick and creamy, about 1 minute. Remove the pot from the heat, add the butter, and whip for 2 minutes to thicken the cream. Transfer to a bowl. Refrigerate at least 6 hours. Will keep for up to 1 week.

Note: To make chocolate custard cream, and 1 1/2 ounces of melted, cooled unsweetened baker's chocolate along with the butter. For a richer chocolate flavor, add a little more.


Cream Cheese Frosting
THIS FROSTING IS AMAZING!!! If I do say so :)
Makes  about 3 cups, Enough to fill and ice one 9 Inch cake.

16 ounces cream cheese
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1. Put the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachement and paddle at medium speed until creamy, approximately 30 seconds.
2. With the motor running, pour in the vanilla and paddle for 30 seconds. Add the sugar, a little at a time , and mix until smooth, approximately 1 minute after the last addition.
3. Use right away, or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

Homemade Graham Crackers... we're still looking for a better recipe.

We made s'mores!

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

Cinnamon Rolls
(recipe of Sonja Peterson)

Sprinkle 2 rounded Tbs yeast over 1/2 cup warm water. Add a dash of sugar. In pan on stove or microwave , melt 1 cube margarine or butter. Add 2 cups milk(I use 1% but you can use whatever you have) until warm. In large mixing bowl, beat 2 eggs, 3/4 cup sugar, and 1 Tbs of salt. Add warm margarine/ milk mixture. Be sure mixture isn't too warm, then add yeast mixture.Add 5 cups flour all at once and mix gently and slowly with electric hand mixer just until flour is moistened. Remove mixer and add 2 more cups of flour. Gently mix in with wooden spoon or spatula just until well combined. (with this recipe, the secret to light cinnamon rolls is to not over work the dough. Dough will be rather sticky.)

Place in draft-free area; cover with towel and allow to rise until at least double. Pull gently away form sides of bowl (don't mix down) and allow to rise again. Grease jelly roll pan/ cookie sheet (should have about 1" sides) by pouring1 to 2 Tbs melted margarine on pan and spreading with palm of hand. Turn dough out onto lightly floured board or counter. Gently roll into rectangle. Pour and spread melted margarine over dough and sprinkle with a cinnamon and sugar mixture of 3/4 cup sugar and 1 Tbs of cinnamon. Roll up width-wise and cut into 24 rolls. Place side by side (touching). Let rise until almost double in size. Bake at 350 for 17 min. or until golden brown in center of pan, medium brown around sides. Do not over bake!

 Frosting
1 lb of powdered/ confectioners sugar
1/3 cup melted margarine
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup evaporated milk
Spread liberally over cinnamon rolls immediately after removing from the oven. (The key to good frosting is the evaporated milk.) Remember to share!!!

If I mistyped something or it doesn't make sense let me know This recipe MAKES 24 ROLLS so either cut the recipe or be prepared to share!

 Another meal thanks to bountiful basket! Salad with roasted potatoes and Carrots with a little melted cheese on top! For the seasoning on the potatoes and carrots we used Webers Roasted Garlic & Herb as well Kick'N Chicken. We prefer McCormick Grill Mates Mesquite or our personal favorite Smokehouse Maple!

Pasta with Flavorful Veggies Recipe

Ingredients

• 8 ounces uncooked whole wheat spaghetti
• 2 medium zucchini, halved and sliced
• 1/3 cup chopped onion
• 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 4 medium tomatoes, quartered
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions

• Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute the zucchini, onion, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper in oil and butter for 4-5 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer.
• Add tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle with cheeses; cover and simmer for 2-3 minutes or until cheese is melted.
• Drain spaghetti; serve with vegetable mixture. Yield: 4 servings.

 www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Pasta-with-Flavorful-Veggies

Biscuits Supreme

Ingredients 

 3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder*

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar*

3/4 cup butter or 1/2 cup butter and 1/4 cup shortening 
1 cup milk

 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. In a large bowl stir together the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and cream of tartar. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add milk all at once. Using a fork, stir just until moistened.

2. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead dough by folding and gently pressing dough for four to six strokes or just until dough holds together. Pat or lightly roll dough until 3/4 inch thick. Cut dough with a floured 2-1/2-inch biscuit cutter, rerolling scraps as necessary.

3. Place biscuits 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 14 minutes or until golden. Remove biscuits from baking sheet and serve warm.

4. Makes 12 biscuits.

From the Test Kitchen

• Note *If baking powder and cream of tartar appear lumpy, sift through a fine mesh sieve before using.
• Variation Buttermilk Biscuits:Prepare as above, except substitute 1-1/4 cups buttermilk or sour milk for the 1 cup milk in the rolled biscuits and 1-1/2 cups buttermilk or sour milk for the 1-1/4 cups milk in the drop biscuits.
• Variation Drop Biscuits Supreme:Prepare as above through step 1, except increase milk to 1-1/4 cups. Using a large spoon, drop dough into 12 mounds onto a greased baking sheet. Bake as directed above. Makes 12 biscuits.

http://www.bhg.com/recipe/quickbreads/biscuits-supreme/

Butternut Squash Pie... Dan wasn't the biggest fan but I enjoyed it!

 

Butternut Squash Pie Recipe

Ingredients

• Pastry for single-crust pie (9 inches)
• 1-1/4 cups sugar
• 4-1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 3 cups mashed cooked butternut squash
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Whipped cream, optional

Directions

• Line a 9-in. pie plate with pastry; trim and flute edges. Cut out scraps with a leaf-shaped cookie cutter for garnish if desired; place on a baking sheet and set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine the sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon. Beat in the squash, butter, eggs, water and vanilla until smooth. Pour into crust.
• Cover edges loosely with foil. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes. Remove foil. Bake 35-40 minutes longer or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Bake leaf cutouts for 5-7 minutes or until golden brown.
• Cool pie and cutouts on a wire rack for 1 hour. Refrigerate pie until chilled. Garnish with pastry leaves and whipped cream if desired. Yield: 6-8 servings

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Butternut-Squash-Pie 

Whole Wheat Blueberry pancakes

Pancakes

Ingredients 

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 beaten egg

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons cooking oil (I use apple sauce instead of oil)

 
Directions

1. In a medium mixing bowl stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture; set aside.

2. In another medium mixing bowl combine the egg, milk, and cooking oil. Add egg mixture all at once to the dry mixture. Stir just till moistened (batter should be lumpy).

3. For standard-size pancakes, pour about 1/4 cup batter onto a hot, lightly greased griddle or heavy skillet. For dollar-size pancakes, pour about 1 tablespoon batter onto a hot, lightly greased griddle or heavy skillet. Cook over medium heat about 2 minutes on each side or till pancakes are golden brown, turning to second sides when pancakes have bubbly surfaces and edges are slightly dry. Serve warm. Makes 8 to 10 standard-size (4-inch) or 36 dollar-size (2-inch) pancakes (8 servings).

(I simply just add the blueberries once I put the batter in. I usually use a 1/4 cup measure cup to measure the batter)

 

Jelly Pancakes...

 I was just experimenting on this one and put jelly in the middle of the pancakes batter. It was actually pretty good!

The jam I used

Final Product.

Thanks to Bountiful basket a yummy Fruit salad! Cherries, mango, & Banana.

Quesadilla with lemon and a side salad. I love it when Dan puts a little lemon juice on the tortilla when he's cooking it!

Samantha decided she wanted to take a bite... :P

Check Please. Monkey enjoying her Blueberry Pancakes :)

Zucchini Herb Casserole

Zucchini Herb Casserole
Ingredients:
2/3 cup uncooked long grain rice
1 1/3 cup water (little more if it's brown rice)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1  1/2 pounds zucchini, cubed (5 cups approx.)
1 cup sliced green onions (I usually just use regular yellow onions)
3 Tablespoons garlic, minced
2 1/2 teaspoons garlic salt
1 teaspoons basil
1 teaspoons sweet paprika
1 teaspoons dried oregano
1 1/2 cups seeded, chopped tomatoes (a 28 oz can of stewed tomatoes, works well too) Make sure it is seeded or drained otherwise it's kind of soupy.
2 cups shredded cheese

Directions: 
1.Cook the rice according to package directions.
2.Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease a 13X9 pan or a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish.
3. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat, and cook zucchini, onion, and garlic 5 min. or until tender. Season with garlic salt, basil, paprika, and oregano. Mix in the rice, tomatoes and Cheese (may want to save some of the cheese for the top). Continue to cook and stir until heated through.
4. Transfer to the prepared baking dish. Bake uncovered 20 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

This can be made ahead of time and placed in the fridge, make sure to bake longer if that is the case.